The US and Canada’s Indie music industry faces serious issues during the Lockdown

Business is still usual for indie global concert promoters despite these trying times. More creative ways are surfacing as the corona-virus crisis is still ongoing, and in time, we might see more innovations from these people that will change how we look at concerts and festivals.

Canada and US indie artists suffer most during the pandemic. Statistically, the United States and Canada had scheduled the most indie genre concerts and shows in 2020. Everything is canceled and the Canadian government believes that lockdown could last for few more weeks. Economic recession means that people won’t have enough money to attend concerts. Indie genre artists have suffered most as 100% of concerts and tours are canceled. Indie is a very specific genre where artists mostly rely on tours, private shows, and concerts. The main problem was the cancellation of international commercial flights. Most of the tickets are sold to international travelers who love the Indie genre and travel to explore new ways of pleasure. Unfortunately, the borders are closed and it could last till 2021. Closed borders mean that music tourism is paused while most Indie music festivals sell tickets to tourists. The only hope, for now, is the “Indie Week Canada” as an organization has not announced line-up. Fans still hope that everything will be ok in November and Indie festivals can take place in November/December to have a perfect end of the year.

Music tourism was not only space to suffer due to covid. Gaming tourism has also seen a big hit. People who are traveling to Canada, they want to taste different landscape, music festivals, and the gaming industry. Music festivals attract the attention of many tourists who also love to play and bet on their luck. Music festivals and tours always happen near casino venues as people love all forms of entertainment in one place. Most music lovers who travel to Canada play in real money casino venues and while attending the biggest music events. As the festivals are over, gaming tourism will also see a big decrease in the number of gamers and revenue. Gaming tourism is closely related to music tourism, so financially both industries will suffer in the long-run. World leaders want to open borders as soon as possible. Trudeau is also positive about opening borders by the end of the year but he does not want to get the second cycle of covid pandemic. Casino tourism along with music tourism sees the light at the end of the tunnel – experts believe that in 2021 people will travel without hesitation and many industries will see massive growth soon.

Concert Subscriptions, Care Packages & More: How Indie Promoters Are Weathering the Crisis

Margin Walker owner Texas Williams expressed his thoughts about the drought that promoters are experiencing. According to him, despite any circumstances, they must always be prepared to fight head-on every day, it is their job after all.

Indie promoters are the ones who are affected most of this crisis because of financial stability. Some businesses set up GoFundMe campaigns, merch selling, and online concerts to counter the recession they are facing.

PopGun presents, for instance, used Minecraft, Microsoft’s gaming behemoth, to hold a concert. Their endeavor is successful and is known as Nether Meant. The guys behind the project successfully raised over $8,000, which they will use to donate to those in need.

Despite the lack of ticket sales, indie promoters made sure that they can still sell something and have used foods and beverages as their primary tool to stay afloat financially.

Steve Sternschein of Head Presents stated that they haven’t thought of people buying what they offer because it is not what they usually sell. But it turns out that customers are loyal as ever and have shown outpouring support to them.

The concept of show bonds also surfaced in the market, wherein promoters apply 20% off to their shows to entice their customers to buy for future purposes. Efforts like these are more than enough to help, especially with the current country’s economy because of the crisis.

Indie promoters have also found shelter using subscription-based services that would benefit both parties. For instance, Noise Pop uses Patreon as the platform to facilitate its subscription service that is called Culture Club. $7 is the base fee they offer to their customers to start streaming content right away.

For hardcore fans and those that are on a budget, Noise Pop also offers a $449 option that allows the customer to access all contents that they provide for a year, as well as provided access to different events and VIP opportunities.

This type of live show or concert subscription is expensive by default because of how much it is needed to set up a display and to hire an artist to perform. But, whatever the case, it is inevitable that many people would still support and patronize such services.